𝓢𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓟𝓼𝔂𝓬𝓱𝓸

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓔𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽

𝓐𝓵𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓽𝓸 𝓟𝓞𝓥

I lay on the couch in Luca's apartment, staring up at the ceiling. It was honestly a lot to process. First being kidnapped from the ceremony, then being threatened with death twice, then finding out that my captor was a reef siren.... 

My gosh, these handcuffs are uncomfortable, I thought, rolling onto my side. 

I thought back to that night in Portorosso, when I was seven. I had decided to sneak off the island to visit the shore- I was looking for more human things to give my dad. My dad had always told me that there were no other sirens, just humans who would kill us if they got the chance. But even with that in mind, I knew that there were more human items closer to the shore. So I waited until he was asleep and swam to the shore. 

I had spent about an hour collecting dumb stuff, mostly glass bottles, before some splashing caught my attention. Despite my instincts screaming at me to run away, I had gone to investigate. 

When I rounded the corner, there was a little reef siren, standing in the water. The moonlight had outlined him, preventing me from seeing his color, but his shape gave away what tribe he was. He looked so small and delicate, but when he saw me, he ran faster than the wind. I tried to follow him, but he was gone within seconds. 

The only other siren I had ever seen in my life at that point, besides my dad. 

When I started working with Papa in the fishing business, we caught our fair share of reef sirens in the nets. It made sense, given that they were the most common siren tribe around Italy. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that Luca was a reef siren. Still, something familiar tingled in the back of my mind when I thought about him...

Whatever it is about him that seems so familiar, I'm not figuring it out anytime soon. He sure seems to be a closed book about his past, I thought sleepily. 

Somehow, even with the handcuffs, I drifted off to a restless sleep where I dreamed of smoke and gunshots and blood. The masquerade...

When I woke up, it was dead silent. I glanced around for a second, forgetting where I was, but then I remembered. I looked down at my wrists and winced. There were red bands where the handcuffs had dug into my skin, causing it to sting. I gently swung my legs off the couch, and I was startled whenever they bumped into a soft mound.

I picked up the bundle. There was a note on the outside- I'm running a quick errand. Feel free to change into these. The handcuff key is on the back of this note. Be ready. When I come back, we're going. -Luca 

I flipped the note over, and sure enough, a small key was taped to the back. I pulled it off and unlocked the handcuffs, circling my arms to get the blood flowing through them again. Then, gently, I pulled open the bundle. There was a tank top and a pair of shorts, made with soft cotton. They were the style that I usually wore, in my exact sizes.

What is with that guy? I thought in wonder. It's kinda creepy how much he knows about me. I shrugged off the thought, stepping into the bathroom to take a shower. Once I was in, it took me a full fifteen minutes to find a bottle of soap simply labeled shampoo. There were so many bottles of other substances, most of them looking incredibly expensive, I was blown away. 

And I thought we were rich, I thought sarcastically while I was drying off. Once I had finished getting ready, I walked out of the bathroom and nearly leapt out of my skin. 

Luca was standing in the doorway of the hall, flipping his dagger over his fingers. "Took you long enough," he said. I just pressed a hand to my chest in an attempt to calm my racing heart. "Sharks, Luca, you nearly scared my soul from my body," I said, giving him a weak smile. He just ignored me and turned into the kitchen.